One type of printer which transfers colorant from a donor web to a receiver web is a thermal printer that uses a dye transfer process.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,976 describes an apparatus for multipass color electrostatic recording in which edge registration marks are printed on the edge of the print on the first pass and then read by a sensor on subsequent passes to register the colors in the final print. The apparatus is illustrated by a belt drive devise, and may be limited to a continuous web, and a latent image process. The printed registration marks may be objectionable in many kinds of printed images.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,413 describes a thermal head printing apparatus, but no method of correction for registration is given.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,994 describes a thermal printer which has a control apparatus to locate printing on a label. With this arrangement, mulitpass registration is a problem.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,786 describes a thermal printer with a simplified drive mechanism using a single motor for all drive functions.